Brazil’s president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, confirmed on Thursday that his vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin, will not be a minister in the next government, in a meeting with political allies in Brasilia Alckmin, who was present during the event, was chosen by Lula to coordinate the work teams that will discuss health, social development and economic issues during the transition process.
«I insisted on placing Alckmin as coordinator so that no one would think that the coordinator was going to be a minister. He is not competing for a ministerial position because he is vice-president», said Lula, who plans to define who will lead the portfolios of the new government by the end of the month.
Lula was present this Thursday at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, where he extended his hand to the «losers» of the elections, to whom he promised to be able to participate in the transition process, although he pointed out that Jair Bolsonaro must apologize for his lies.
«The President of the Republic can make mistakes, but he cannot lie. Bolsonaro has a debt with the Brazilian people: apologize for the lies told during the elections», claimed Lula, who promised that in his mandate the institutions will be respected.
«That is democracy, one wins and another loses, one laughs and another cries. I am not asking anyone to like me, I am asking people to respect the electoral result», stressed the president-elect of Brazil.
In that sense, he has asked that «minority» of Bolsonaro’s followers who continue protesting in the streets for his victory in the elections without knowing why, to «go back home» and «not to be violent» because «that is democracy».
«One wins and another loses, it’s like that in any sport, in politics, how many times I cried for having lost,» said Lula, who asked for «respect for those who think differently,» he claimed.
In one of the moments of his speech, Lula was moved to address the problem of hunger suffered by more than 30 million of his compatriots, according to the National Institute on Food Insecurity, and said that he will have «fulfilled his mission in life» if every Brazilian can eat three times a day.
Applauded by those present after becoming emotional, Lula pointed out that he «never» thought that when he left the Presidency two decades ago hunger could return to Brazil, but on the contrary, he imagined that in ten years the country could be at the level of France, or England, and would have achieved more social conquests.
Finally, Lula also asked his compatriots that now that the World Cup will be held in Qatar on November 20, they should not be ashamed to wear the national colors because «green and yellow» are not exclusive to a candidate or a party, in a clear allusion to Bolsonaro and his supporters.
«Green and yellow are the colors of 213 million inhabitants of this country, therefore you are going to see me with the yellow green shirt,» he stressed.
